62: At the Center of it All – Pt. 3

“I have to say, I was surprised when you called. The last time we actually got together was just before Mike and I moved in together,” Aria said, leaning forward in her seat. She and Victoria had met up at the small café on Brunswick for lunch.  

“I know and I’m sorry. Work is one blurred night into an unconscious morning. I barely have time for a moment to myself.”

“You’re not the only one. This job keeps me away for long periods of time now. I’m surprised Mike is so ok with it. Although when I get back, he shows me just how much I was missed,” she added with a smile before taking another sip of her mimosa.

“Well you must be doing something right. I’m just happy to be able to spend time with the woman my partner won’t shut up about.”

“Really? All good, I hope.”

Victoria hid a smile as she took a sip of her mimosa. Aria was giddy with emotions and they were very visible on her face. “Of course. To be honest, I’ve never seen him so taken with anyone.” The waitress came around with the check and as Aria reached for it, Victoria placed her hand over hers. “I got that,” she said with a smile, quickly scooping it up before Aria had a chance to grab it. Victoria handed the woman her credit card and waited on her to return.

Aria’s phone chimed and she excused herself from the table to answer. Victoria took the opportunity to check if she had any missed calls from Derrick as well, frowning seeing no texts or voicemails. Her mind couldn’t help but wonder how his meeting with Rowan was going. Shooting a quick text to Mike with the number 6, Victoria shut down the phone and placed it back on the table as Aria was returning. 

“Sorry, that was work.”

“It never ends.”

“No, it does not. It’s like the place goes into panic mode when I’m away for longer than five minutes,” she sighed. “I really appreciated this. I needed some girl time.”

“It was nice. We should try and get together a little more often.”

“Definitely,” Aria agreed. “Well, I gotta run. Thanks again for lunch.” Victoria waved her off and moments later, the waitress returned with her card.

As she was preparing to leave, she finally heard her phone chime. Quickly drawing it from her pocket, Victoria glanced at the message preview and smiled. It was from Derrick.

Finally broke him. Meet me at Rowan’s. You might want to hear this.

Victoria slid the phone back into her pocket and rushed for her jeep. It was times like these she missed her siren and lights. Speeding through the streets of Avondale, she took as many back roads as she could heading towards Rowan’s manor. 

When she got to the large federal colonial home, she found it eerily quiet. There were lights on up and downstairs but, she did not detect movement, nor could she hear anything inside. Grabbing her phone, she shot off a text to Derrick with her concerns and after waiting a few minutes with no response, decided to bite the bullet.

Opening the front door, Victoria entered cautiously and took a look around. The vampire guards normally posted in the foyer were also suspiciously absent as well as the large group often found in the den to the right drinking and playing pool. “Hello?” she said, and heard the word echo along the hall. The hairs on her arm stood on end and she slowly crept forward towards Rowan’s study. 

Inching through the main hall, Victoria noticed blood splattered along the stair casing and smeared along the wall. Memories of finding the aftermath of Derrick’s rampage on a previous visit to Rowan’s ran through her mind and she briefly wondered if he had a hand in the carnage that lead through the house. The smell of blood was strongest near the end of the hall, stopping just at the double doors of the study where bloody hand prints covered the handles and paneling.

Victoria removed her sidearm and, with the tip of her boot, kicked open the door. Rowan sat behind his desk beside a guarded Marcel and seated Derrick. “Look who’s finally decided to grace us with her presence. I was beginning to think you’d planned to stand outside all day.”

“What the hell is this?” Victoria asked, seeing the distraught look on Derrick’s face.

“This? Oh, it’s nothing. My old friend here just had a small lapse is all.”

“Lapse? The blood?”

“Victoria…” Derrick started and immediately received a blow from Marcel. Victoria didn’t hesitate, firing a shot at the large vampire, catching him in the shoulder. He fell back, howling in pain as the specially designed bullet seared through his flesh. 

“YOU BITCH!” he growled and charged for her and Rowan was instantly on his feet.

“NO!” he shouted, halting his bodyguard in his tracks. “She will not be harmed.”

“You ok, Derrick?” she asked, glancing briefly at him before redirecting her attention to Marcel. He was fuming, staring at the detective as she inched closer to Derrick.

“Yeah,” he said, making no motion to stand.

“I got your text.”

“Whoops. I’m afraid that was me,” Rowan said, waving Derrick’s phone for Victoria to see. “Sorry about the subterfuge but, Derrick here refused to ask you to come and well, I just had to see you again.” The entry wound in Marcel’s shoulder grew inflamed and bruised and he roared as the cross-etched head burrowed deeper into his flesh. “What did you do to him?” Rowan asked, seemingly impressed watching his toughest protégé fall to his knees.

“Remember those bullets I told you I made?” she asked, not taking her eyes off of the man.

“My, my. Well aren’t you as devious as you are beautiful?”

“And I have one for you if you don’t tell me what the fuck is going on,” she said, aiming her weapon at the blonde vampire.

“Relax, Victoria,” Derrick said, climbing to his feet. “Put the gun down.”

She looked over at Derrick as though he’d grown a second head and shook her head, refusing to back down. Rowan smirked, tossing Derrick’s phone to the desk as he watched him move towards Victoria. “Not until I have answers. Now someone had better start talking or I will start shooting.”

“Haven’t you had enough of that for one day, Victoria?” Rowan asked, the tone of his accent grinding her gears. “I mean, that poor woman in the park.”

“RO! NOT NOW!” Derrick yelled, tossing him a quick glance over his shoulder. When he looked back, he noticed the twitch on Victoria’s trigger finger and swiftly moved to disarm her. “Please,” he said, shaking free her weapon and placing it in his waistband.

“Well, now that that’s done, how about a chat like civilized people?” Rowan asked, moving around his desk.

“Fine. You first. Why is there blood in the hallway?” Victoria asked.

“Oh well you can thank Derrick here for that. He decided to drop a body on my doorstep, your little friend from the park,” he said, with a nod. “Marcel was just thanking him for the added work to his already busy schedule.”

“And what about the park?” Victoria asked moving closer to Rowan. “What were you trying to prove with your little stunt?”

“Victoria…” In a flash, Victoria reached out and slapped Rowan as hard as she could. His head spun with force and he ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek before slowly reaching up to touch the spot. “Feel better?”

“I’d have preferred shooting you and watching you suffer like Marcel but, it’ll do for now,” she said. Her hand stung but, she refused to show the pain as she took a step back from him towards Derrick. “Now, go on. Why did you want me here?”

“To explain to you that what I did was necessary. Derrick has coddled you for too long. You need to break free of these restrictive human emotions to truly embrace your power. Victoria, I won’t make apologies for what happened last night. If that is why you’ve come then you’ve wasted a trip.  I will say, however, that had Derrick done as promised when he arrived and offered you up when asked, things could have gone much differently between us.”

“You’re a goddamned monster. Stay the fuck away from me,” she said and started out the door.

“Derrick,” Rowan called for his friend before he rushed after Victoria. He dropped his phone into his hand and walked towards his bar. “It’s time,” he said, pouring himself a drink and turning to face Derrick who stood frozen near the door.

“No,” Derrick replied, stepping deeper inside the room. “How many times do I have to tell you she’s not…”

“Ready? Bollocks! Her little performance in the park proves quite the opposite.”

“The hell it does, Rowan. You made her kill an innocent woman!”

“Innocent?” Rowan scoffed before taking a swig of the amber liquid in his glass. “When are you gonna learn, old friend, no one is truly innocent. Victoria is a witch, one with great powers. You and I both came here with the same intentions of finding her and using her for that very reason. The only difference is, I’m not blinded by some idiotic notion of love. She’ll do what she needs, or else. I’ve already called the necessary people and they will be expecting delivery…soon.”

Derrick growled and started forward, fists balled and an angry glower on his face. “You son of a…”

“Now, now, Derrick, mind yourself. I let you hit me before. I will not allow you to walk away again should your temper get the best of you. We both knew this day was coming. Some of us are just better prepared for it than others,” he smirked and downed the rest of his drink before setting the glass on the bar. “So. Might I suggest you get your affairs in order? You have two days.” 

Derrick stormed from the room without looking back and Rowan glanced at Marcel. “What are you doing down there? Get up.”

“She shot me!”

“And you’ll heal. Or not if you don’t stop bleeding all over my floor!” Marcel pulled himself up and painfully schlepped out of the office. “Embarrassing.”

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